N.Y. Social Services Law § 336 (2026)

§ 336. Work activities. 1. Social services districts may provide, and
require applicants for and recipients of public assistance to
participate in a variety of activities, including but not limited to the
following:
  (a) unsubsidized employment;
  (b) subsidized private sector employment;
  (c) subsidized public sector employment;
  (d) work experience in the public sector or non-profit sector,
(including work associated with refurbishing publicly assisted housing)
if sufficient private sector employment is not available;
  (e) On-the-job training;
  (f) job search and job readiness assistance, which shall include
activities with the goal of seeking or obtaining employment, or
preparation to seek or obtain employment, including life-skills
training, which shall include but not be limited to home visiting
services to the recipient and their family, and provided further that
job search is an active and continuing effort to secure employment
configured by the local social services official; and such social
services district may work in cooperation with the department of labor
to provide workforce guidance and information in accordance with section
ten-c of the labor law;
  (g) community service programs provided, however, the number of hours
a participant in community service activities authorized pursuant to
this section shall be required to work in such assignment shall not
exceed a number which equals the amount of assistance payable with
respect to such individual (inclusive of the value of food stamps
received by such individual, if any) divided by the higher of (a) the
federal minimum wage, or (b) the state minimum wage. No participant
shall in any case be required to engage in assigned activities for more
than forty hours in any week. No participant shall be assigned to a
community service activity that conflicts with his or her bona fide
religious beliefs;
  (h) vocational educational training as time limited by federal law.
For the purposes of this title, "vocational educational training" shall
include but not be limited to organized educational programs offering a
sequence of courses which are directly related to the preparation of
individuals for current or emerging occupations including programs that
require up to four years of post-secondary education. Such programs
shall include competency-based applied learning which contributes to an
individual's academic knowledge, higher-order reasoning, and
problem-solving skills, work attitudes, general employability skills,
and the occupational-specific skills necessary for economic
independence. Such term also includes applied technology education;
  (i) job skills training directly related to employment. Job skills
training directly related to employment may include but not be limited
to participation in up to four years of post-secondary education to the
extent consistent with federal and state requirements;
  (j) education directly related to employment, in the case of a
recipient who has not yet received a high school diploma or a
certificate of high school equivalency;
  (k) satisfactory attendance at secondary school or a course of study
leading to a certificate of general equivalency in the case of a
recipient who has not completed secondary school or received such
certificate;
  (l) provision of child care services to an individual who is
participating in community service;
  (m) job search and job readiness assistance, as defined in paragraph
(f) of this subdivision, once the individual has exceeded the six week
limit set in federal law;
  (n) educational activities pursuant to section three hundred
thirty-six-a of this title.
  2. No participant shall be required to provide child care services as
a work activity described in this section unless the participant
expressly requests in writing to provide such services.
  3. Social services districts may enter into agreements with public and
private employment agencies to assist recipients of public assistance to
find jobs.
  4. No participant shall in any case be required to engage in assigned
activities for more than forty hours in any week.
  5. In no event shall the programs and activities enumerated in this
title be deemed the sole activities that a social services district may
provide and require applicants for and recipients of public assistance
to engage in. Any program or activity that meets the goals of this title
and is consistent with the requirements of the labor law and this
chapter shall be allowed.
  6. Any social services district that establishes and provides a
program or activity not herein enumerated shall set forth the
requirements and structure of such program or activity in its local plan
pursuant to the provisions of section three hundred thirty-three of this
title.
  7. In accordance with the provisions of paragraph (h) of subdivision
two of section four hundred fifty-four of the family court act or as
otherwise required by the court, the court may assign to work activities
the non-custodial parents of children receiving public assistance and
require a report to such court of any failure of said parent to comply
with the requirements of such program.
  8. The hours of participation in federal work study programs completed
pursuant to section three hundred thirty-five-b of this title shall be
included as a work activity within the definition of unsubsidized
employment, subsidized private sector employment or subsidized public
sector employment pursuant to paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of subdivision
one of this section, and the hours of participation in internships,
externships and other work placements completed pursuant to section
three hundred thirty-five-b of this title shall be included as a work
activity within the definition of on-the-job training pursuant to
paragraph (e) of subdivision one of this section.